Apparatus of combustion



y 14, J. 5. PEOPLES I APPARATUS 0F COIBUSTIO" Filod Oct. 19,1935 2 sways-sheet 1 INVENTOR. $75M faeo aka Q 5 3K EATTORNEYL 2.20o,ssi

May 14, 1940 J. 5. PEOPLES v Arrnuus or consumer; I

Filodbct. 19. 1935 "2' sheets-sheet? ATTORNEY.

Patented May'14,-1940 UNITED STATES "PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS OF COMBUSTION John S. Peoples, Chicago, Ill.,' assignor of onefourth to Sangston Hettler, Chicago, Ill.

Application October 19, 1935, Serial No. 45,730

Claims.

an'oil burner. in which forceddraft is p ovided in such a way that practically all of the ap- 0 paratus is cooled thereby'and protected from the eflects of the heat.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved oil burner in which air is first efficiently carbureted and thereafter the fuel and 35 the air are subjected to combustion.

A further object of theinvention is to provide an oil burner provided with a reflection surface associated with a-combustion zone in such a manner that radiant heat is reflected upon the oil for the more efllcient vaporization thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide an oil burner in which a pool of oil is maintained in an open vessel during an operation and which will come to efllcient combustion condition in a minimum of time.

Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the invention will appear from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying two sheets of drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a longitudinal section through an oil burnersembodying my invention; and

Fig. 2 is assectional detailed view on a considerably larger scale of the fire pot taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l, the manner in which the oil is intermixed with the air being illustrated diagrammatically.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly Fig. 1, the oil burner comprises a dish-like vessel H) which contains the oil being consumed. The

vessel HI comprises an annular ledge H which is provided with an upwardly directed bead. l2 within which'is received the cylindrical wall of an air housing It.

is substantially smaller than the dish-shaped vessel l0 located below it.

On its inner side the ledge I] is provided with 55 a bead I6 which surface hasa seat for the lower 7 The housing 13 is secured to the. 5 vessel III by any suitable. means, for example,

edge of the cone ll. This cone tapers upward and its upper edge seats against a face 11' provided by one of the step formations of the wall.

It. The wall it has an annular portion 14' which extends inwardly beyond the cone I! for a pur- 5 pose hereinafter .described. The cone l1 and the housing l3 constitute between them an annular chamber fOI' air which is supplied through a conduit 3 which maybe bolted to the housing l3; This air is supplied by a blower I9, prefer- 10 ably of the squirrel cage type, which is driven by suitable means, for example an electric motor 20. The oil is supplied by the pipe 2| to the vessel l0 from .a suitable control of known type illustrated diagrammatically and designated by the 15 reference numeral 22. This control comprises an electrically operated valve together with a float valve which closes automatically when a predetermined maximum level is reached. As a result, when the conventional control such as the usual household thermostat calls for heat, the first valve is opened and oil passes into the dish-like vessel l0 until the appropriate depth is attained- When the thermostatic control closes the electrical valve in the control element 22, the oil in the vessel I0 is completely consumed. The motor 20 -is preferably arranged to run continuously, although suitable means may be provided to render it intermittent so as to supply air only when the oil is burning. 30

It will be understood that the burner is provided witha suitable pilot light which may be of any known or suitable type. I have illustrated the burner as being provided with an oil pilot of the type described and claimed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 38,247, filed August 28, 1935.

The cone ll tapers in the upward direction to a substantial degree. This cone is provided with perforations which are relatively sparse in the lower portion of the cone and are relatively numerous in the upper portion of the cone. Thus I may provide four rowsof perforations 23 at various heights, each of which comprises a relatively small number of openings distributed unir formly around the circumference of the cone.

Adjacent the upper edge of the cone'I provide a plurality of rows, for example four, of similar openings 24, very close together, each row comprising manymore openings than those rows be- The jets of air entering from the lowest row of openings impinge against the surface of the oil in the vessel It at positions short of the center. All these jets of air, after impinging on the surface of the oil, pass over said surface towards the center, wiping the surface of the liquid oil and carrying oilvapors with them. The air and the oil vapors rise upwardly through the cone and are augmented by the air jets introduced by the other openings 23. The amount of air introduced by the openings 23 is suflicient to provide a combustible mixture of air and oil vapor. The oil vapor is not, however, Consumed until it receives the large amount of air supplied by the numerous openings 24. The openings 23 of the rows above ,the lowest, supply jets of air under pressure which are also directed downwardly and some of these jets also wipe the surface of the oil in the vessel ill. The jets of air wiping the surface of the oil materially aid in its evaporation and in the maintenance of the body of oil at a temperature which avoids cracking and the formation of face of the oil and move thereover.

carbon. The upper openings 23 also create turbulence of the mixed air andvapors and'render the mixture uniform in preparation for its upward passage through the zone of high aeration constituted by the numerous openings 24 .at the upper edge of the cone.

In Fig. 2 I have illustrated diagrammatically the manner in which the jets of air from the lowermost openings 23 impinge against the sur- In this figure I" have also shown a zone of rapid combustion around the openings 24. The amount of air admitted by these openings is so large that it tends to create an eddy current in the form of a gyrating annulus within thecone II. This gyration of the non-explosive gases together with the agitating effect of the jets entering through the openings 23 maintain the non-explosive gases in a very perfect state of uniformityand turbulence and prevent the occurrence of isolated highly oxygenated zones which might occasion cracking and the deposition of carbon.

The large amount of 'air introduced by the openings 24 creates a zone of fire around the upper edge of the cone and a column of fire projects upwardly through and beyond the central opening I5. It will be noted that combustion within the burner proper is restricted to a relatively small area around and within the upper end of the cone. I have diagrammatically shown in Fig. 2 the manner in which heat from this annulus of flame is effectively reflected by the annular portion I4 of the wall 14 which projectsinwardly beyond the inner edge of the cone. The heat radiated downwardly by the annulus of the flame and also the heat-reflected downwardly by the annular portion I4 under ordinary conditions is suflicient to maintain the oil in the chamber In at a sufiiciently high temperature to effect its vaporization. particularly when aided by the forcible surface wiping effected by the jets of air admitted by the lowermost row of openings 23.

The cone II can-be very easily fabricatedfrom a blank of appropriate shape. bent so as to bring its edges into overlapping relation. These edges are then secured together by' welding or any other suitable means. The cone l'l may be made of relatively light metal, preferably heat resisting steel. This cone is maintained at a remarkably low temperature owing to the continuous supply of comparatively cold air around the exterior surface of the cone. As,a result of this eflicient cooling, I have found that This blank may be the cone I! may be made of very thin metal without danger of burning out.

It is to-be noted that the characteristic operation of the present burner is based upon the supply of'air under substantial pressure to the lowermost row of openings 23. It is this substantial pressure that produces jets strong enough to reach the surface of the oil and impinge thereagainst with sufficient force to materially aid in the carburetion process. 7

Although the present invention has been described in connection with a specific embodiment of apparatus and the preferred manner-of operation of the process of combustion, it must be understood that I do not intend to be limited to the specific details shown except insofar as set forth in the following claims. Having thus described my invention, I declare that what I claim 1. An oil burner comprising a vessel for maintaining a body of oil, a perforated cone above said vessel and tapering upwardly therefrom, a reflecting member above the cone and projecting inwardly thereof for a substantial distance in the radial direction, means establishing an annularchamber around said cone, and a blower for supplying air under pressure to said annular chamber to cool the cone, said chamber terminating short of the oil containing vessel to avoid undue cooling thereof the perforations of the cone being arinto the oil containing vessel.

2. An oil burner comprising a dish-like vessel for maintaining a body of oil, a cone mounted upon and above said vessel and tapering upwardly therefrom, said cone being provided with openings ranged to direct air from the blower downwardly for the admission of air, walls around the cone and in spaced relation thereto, establishing an annular air chamber around the cone and above the vessel, and a blower'to supply air to the annular air chamber which passes forcibly through the openings of the cone, said cone and-its openings being arranged so that the jets of air admitted by certain of said openings impinge forcibly upon the surface of the oil in said vessel.

3. An oil burner comprising a dish-like vessel for maintaining a body of oil, a cone mounted upon and above said vessel and tapering upwardly therefrom, said cone being provided with openings 3 for the admission of air, walls around thecone and in spaced relation thereto, establishing an annular air chamber around the cone and above the vessel, and a blower for supplying air to the annular air chamber which passes forcibly through the openings of the cone, said cone and its openings being arranged so that the jets of air admitted by certain of said openings impinge forcibly upon the surface of the oil at positions short of the center of said vessel.

4. An oil burner comprising a shallow vessel for maintaining a body of oil. an upwardly tapering cone mounted upon and above said vessel, means at the upper end of said cone defining an issuing throat, means enclosing an air chamber around said cone, a blower for supplying air under presing a body of oil, an upwardly tapering perforated 2,200,861 3 cone reating'the'reon, an upper member above said lower edges of said cone, said cone having a row cone connected to said lower member to provide of sparsely located openings adjacent its lower an air chamber around said cone, and areflecting edge and rows of sparsely located openings at flange extending inwardly for a substantial disvarying heights on the cone and a plurality of tance in the radial direction beyond the upper vo adjacent rows or closely located openings adja- 5 edge of the cone, said members being provided cent its upper edge.

with seat formations engaging the upper and Joan s.- PEOPLES. 

